Jim’s been on a body thing the last couple of weeks. Last week it was face stuff, this week it’s limb stuff, "arms, elbows, knees, legs." Got a shortie here today: Ella Fitzgerald’s "Here In My Arms." It was written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart in 1925 for the musical Dearest Enemy, and it’s become a standard. This is from her album Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Rodgers & Hart Songbook.
I see Jim picked songs that have to do with the face this week, where the prompt is "Chin/Ears/Eyes/Face/Mouth/Nose." I found a funny one to share with all of you here, Aaron Wilburn’s "If My Nose Was Running Money." Aaron is a Christian "humorist, songwriter and inspirational speaker" who’s featured on the Gaither Homecoming Tour. He’s won several Dove Awards and received Grammy nominations, and has been honored by the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. If I’ve counted correctly, he has 11 albums (all available on his website). This is off his latest, Songs In The Key Of Laughter.
You ask me if I love you And if my love is true Well if I were a rich man Here is what I’d do I’d buy you a diamond ring And a new fur coat or two If my nose was running money I’d blow it all on you
If my nose was running money I’d blow it all on you I’d buy you a Cadillac A new Mercedes too I’d build you a mansion upon that mountaintop If my nose was running money But honey, it’s snot!
If my nose was running money You’d have anything you please Anytime you wanted cash All I’d have to do is sneeze Honey you’d win the lottery When I have a cold or flu If my nose was running money I’d blow it all on you
It’s a booger of a problem I’ve got I wish my nose was running money But it’s snot! I’d buy you a diamond ring A new fur coat or two If my nose was running money I’d blow it all on you
And that’s Song Lyric Sunday and the Song of the Day for December 1, 2019.
We’re getting ready for the big Thanksgiving holiday here in the United States, which is held on the fourth Thursday of November. Our friends in Canada wonder why we don’t have ours closer to harvest time, such as in October. This explanation, from The Blogger’s Best Friend™, says that Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the holiday for the last Thursday of November, which by then was pretty standard in many states, in 1863, but that it didn’t apply to all the states until after Reconstruction. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, wanting to leave his stamp on the holiday, moved it to the next-to-last Thursday in 1939, which that year just happened to be the fourth Thursday but was the third Thursday in 1940 and 1941, which led to a certain amount of confusion, as seen here from the 1942 movie Holiday Inn, which starred Bing Crosby:
Cooler heads eventually prevailed, and on Boxing Day 1941 he signed a joint Congressional resolution which henceforth and ever after fixed the date as the fourth Thursday in November.
Anyway…
The song I’ve chosen for today’s theme, "Bounty/Dessert/Eat/Feast/Food/Hungry/Turkey," is "Hello Groceries," by the jazz-rock band Chase, from their eponymous debut album. The band consisted of four trumpet players (Bill Chase, Ted Piercefield, Alan Ware, and Jerry Van Blair, who does the vocal here) with a rhythm section of guitarist Angel South, bassist Dennis Keith Johnson, keyboardist Phil Porter, drummer Jay Burrid, and vocalist Terry Richards. Chase’s normal modus operandi was to feature the brass pyrotechnics of the trumpet section as much as possible (there weren’t enough ledger lines to put above the staff to denote Chase’s highest note); as such, the lyrics were not always the deciding factor as to whether the band did it. As you’ll see shortly, the lyrics here are less than politically correct. The song is credited to a D. O’Rourke.
The lyrics, courtesy LyricsFreak, which lists the song’s name as "Hell Groceries."
Your groceries knock me out, pretty pretty, pretty lady.
You’re what it’s all about, pretty pretty, pretty lady.
You look so ripe to pick, pretty pretty, pretty lady.
And I just like to hold, pretty pretty, pretty lady.
You’re at the top of my grocery list.
You’re the dessert I don’t want to miss, oh uh huh.
I’m gonna make you mine, gonna get you, pretty pretty.
You think you know my mind, you don’t know yea, I’m gonna show ya.
You look so prime, tender and sweet.
You’re U S D A inspected meat, oh uh huh.
And that’s Song Lyric Sunday and Song of the Day for November 24, 2019.
Jim’s prompt(s) for today is (are) “Did/Didn’t/Do/Don’t/Does/Doesn’t,” and this seemed to be a good one to go with. “Do You Want To Know A Secret” was a song off The Beatles’ first album, which depending on where you live is either Please Please Me on Parlophone (UK) or Introducing… The Beatles! on Vee Jay (US). It was released as a single in the UK in March 1963 and exactly a year later in the US.
The song was written by John Lennon, who decided to give it to George Harrison to sing because “it only has three notes and he wasn’t the best singer in the world.” Wikipedia tells us that it was inspired by the song “I’m Wishing,” from Walt Disney’s 1937 animated feature Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which John’s mother used to sing to him when he was young. Paul McCartney disputes this, saying it was a 50-50 collaboration written for George to sing. For the longest time, I thought John sang this one… Anyway, this came in at #2 on the Hot 100, kept out of the top spot by “Can’t Buy Me Love.” Until “Something” in 1969, this was the most successful Beatles song to have George doing the lead vocal.
So, Jim’s prompt for today is “Could/Might/Should/Would.” I had a lot of trouble with this until I remembered this song. I know I usually do a rock number for Song of the Day, but I think you’ll like this.
Steve Allen, from the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago (had to get that in), was many things: a talk-show host, comedian, author, musician, and songwriter. He was the original host of The Tonight Show, NBC’s late-night talk show that started running when TV was in its infancy, appproximately half of which was him showing off his many talents. He wrote thousands of songs (he said around 8500), including “This Could Be The Start Of Something,” originally written for the 1954 television musical production of The Bachelor. Steve published the song in 1956 and it became his theme song, and was performed by lots of different performers, including Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Lambert Hendricks and Ross, Bobby Darin, Judy Garland, Pia Zadora (remember her?), Oscar Peterson, and most notably by Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé. I should probably note that, according to Tom Poston (one of Steve’s regulars on Tonight), the song was written by Louis Nye (another Tonight regular), but I haven’t found any corroborating evidence. Here, the song is performed on February 9, 1958 by Steve Allen, Ann Southern, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé, who are joined midsong by Dinah Shore and Frank Sinatra. There are many more lyrics in the song as sung here than there are in the official song; my guess is that Steverino wrote them on the way to the studio. Also, a lot of the place names (many of which refer to locations in New York City) have been changed to reference similar places in Los Angeles.
You’re walkin’ along the street, or you’re at a party,
Or else you’re alone and then you suddenly dig,
You’re looking’ in someone’s eyes, you suddenly realize
That this could be the start of something big.
You’re lunching at Twenty-One and watchin’ your diet,
Declining a charlotte russe, accepting a fig,
When out of a clear blue sky, it’s suddenly gal and guy,
And this could be the start of something big.
There’s no controlling the unrolling of your fate, my friend,
Who knows what’s written in the magic book.
But when a lover you discover at the gate my friend,
Invite her in without a second look.
You’re up in an aeroplane or dining at Sardi’s,
Or lying at Malibu alone on the sand,
You suddenly hear a bell, and right away you can tell
That this could be the start of something grand.
This could be the start of something very big,
Why don’t you play your part?
Please give your heart to me….and see.
This could be the start of something wonderful,
Why don’t you take a chance?
Just try romance with me….and see.
Your watchin’ the sun come up and countin’ your money,
Or else in a dim cafe you’re ordering wine,
Then suddenly there he is, and you wanna be where he is,
And this must be the start of something…
This could be the heart of something…
This could be the start of something big.
And that’s Song Lyric Sunday (and Song of the Day) for November 9, 2019.
